Commonwealth Bank shedding of commercial property trusts dismissed as “speculation”

Reports suggesting the Commonwealth Bank is seeking to shed management of its listed commercial property platforms – the CFS Retail Property Trust Group and the Commonwealth Property Office Fund  - have been dismissed as “speculation”.

The two A-REITS have a combined value of $20 billion.

The responsible entity of the fund is the Commonwealth Managed Investments Limited (CMIL), a subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank while another subsidiary, Colonial First State Global Asset Management (CFSGAM) manages the trusts.

It follows the Australian Financial Review’s StreetTalk column revealing last week that a “number of unsolicited approaches were made by a string of potential buyers” to replace the bank as responsible entity of the two A-REITS.

The column reported today that the Commonwealth Bank planned to unleash “a buy-out frenzy for its listed office vehicle, Commonwealth Property Office Fund”.

In a statement posted to the ASX, Commonwealth Managed Investments Limited (CMIL), as responsible entity of both funds advised “it has not received any approach or proposal that would support this speculation”.